Borderless easel for photographic projection printing



Aug. 20, 1957 w. R. VAN DEUSEN, JR 2,803,166

BORDERLESS EASEL FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC PROJECTION PRINTING Filed Oct. 10,1956

United States BORDERLESS EASEL FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC PROJECTION PRINTING Thisinvention relates to an easel for holding photographic print paper whilea print is made by projected light, such as from an enlarger.

Photographic print paper often has a tendency to curl, sometimes onlyslightly, sometimes badly. When the paper is used in making what iscalled a contact print, the curling tendency of the paper presents noparticular problem. But when prints are made with an enlarger or byother projected light process, it is desirable not to have a transparentplate over the print paper, and if the paper has a tendency to curl, itis often difficult to hold it sufficiently flat to obtain a good print,particularly if it is desired to make what is called a borderless print;that is, a print covering the entire area of the print paper, with noblank border or margin around the edges. In such a case, it is notpossible to use a mask for holding the edges of the paper fiat.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a generallyimproved and more satisfactory borderless holding device or borderlesseasel for holding the print paper flat notwithstanding a tendency tocurl, while making photoprints with an enlarger or other projectionprinting means, enabling the print to cover the entire area of the printpaper without wasting any border or margin.

Another object is the provision of a borderless easel so designed as tohold the print paper securely on all four sides, without masking anypart of the paper or requiring a border or margin.

Still another object is the provision of an easel which automaticallyaccommodates the holding means to minor variations in the nominal sizeof the print paper for which the easel is intended.

A further object is the provision of an easel so constructed that it maybe manipulated very easily and quickly under normal conditions of use inthe photographic darkroom.

A still further object is the provision of an easel having aconstruction of extreme simplicity, easy and inexpensive to make.

These and other desirable objects may be attained in the mannerdisclosed as an illustrative embodiment of the invention in thefollowing description and in the accompanying drawings forming a parthereof, in which:

Fig. l is a top plan or face view of the easel in position to receive aprint of sensitized photographic paper, but with the paper omitted inorder to show the construction of the underlying parts of the easel;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken approximately on the line 22 of Fig.1, but with a sheet of paper in place; and

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken approximately on the line 3-3 of Fig.1, on a larger scale.

The same reference numerals throughout the several views indicate thesame parts.

The easel of the present invention comprises two body plates 11 and 13,conveniently of sheet metal, which are duplicates of each other exceptfor a difference in the feet or supports of the respective plates aswill be menareas ice tioned below. Hence a description of one will besufficient for both, except for the above mentioned difference whichwill be further explained.

Each of these plates 11 and 13 is of the general shape of a righttriangle, slightly truncated at the corners, having a long side 21 and ashort side 23 at a right angle to each other, and a hypotenuse 25forming the diagonal of the two sides 21 and 23.

Each corner of each plate is slightly truncated or cut off angularly.The corner between the sides 21 and 23 may be truncated at 31 at anangle of 45 degrees to the two right angular sides 21 and 23, or may betruncated along a line parallel to the diagonal 25, in either eventbeing cut off at such point that the length of the line 31 is about oneinch. The truncated end 33 between the side 23 and the hypotenuse 25, aswell as the truncated end 35 between the side 21 and the hypotenuse 25,are both arranged preferably at a right angle to the hypotenuse 25, andare each about /2 inch in length.

On the two right-angle sides 21 and 23 of each of the triangular plates11 and 13, there is an upstanding marginal flange 41 and 43respectively, formed integrally from the same sheet metal from which themain body is formed, and bent up at an angle just a little less thandegrees to the plane of the main body of the triangle. Preferably theincluded angle between the upstanding flanges and the horizontal planeof the body is substantially 84 degrees. It is found in practice thatthis slight degree of overhang of the flange 41 or 43 is suflicient tohold the edge of the sensitized paper 44 down flat on the easel,notwithstanding any reasonable tendency to curl, and yet it does notinterfere with projection of the printing image onto the entire area ofthe paper, without leaving any border or wasted margin. This is becausethe light coming down from the enlarger lens centered above the easelcomes down in the form of a cone, with the extreme lateral rays in allcases (within practical limits of ordinary enlargers) making an angle ofmore than 6 degrees to a vertical line or less than 84 degrees to thehorizontal printing surface, so that the rays of light projected downfrom the enlarger lens to the printing surface will cover the full areaof the print paper notwithstanding the slight 6 degree overhang of themarginal flanges on the easel.

These upstanding flanges 41 and 43 terminate at the ends of the cut-offor truncated corners 31, 33, and 35, there being no upstanding flangeson these cut-off corners. The upstanding flanges themselves preferablyhave their ends slightly inclined or tapered as indicated in Fig. l. Theflanges are preferably about /8 of an inch in height. Along thehypotenuse or diagonal side 25 of each triangular plate, a flange 45,likewise about of an inch wide, is turned down rather than up, to form areinforcement or stiffening flange for this edge of the body, which thusis stiffened along all three sides so that the body will remainperfectly plane and flat even when made of a relatively light gauge ofsheet metal.

The two triangular bodies 11 and 13 are supported from the usualhorizontal flat surface of the bed or copyboard 56 of the enlarger, bythree legs or feet fastened to the under side of each body 11 or 13,respectively, approximately at the corners thereof, as indicated,respectively, at 51, 53, and 55. Preferably these legs are each formedof a piece of stiff sheet metal bent into a U-shape with parallel sidesor legs and laid on its side with the top leg of the U welded to thebottom of the metal plate 11 or 13, respectively, and with the bottomleg of the U forming a support to elevate the easel body above thesupporting surface or copyboard 50.

The only difference between the two triangular halves of the easel isthat the bottom surfaces of the feet on the first easel unit 11 arecoated with a thin layer of a high friction material such as highfriction rubber 61 (Fig. 2) whereas the bottom surfaces of all threefeet on the other easel unit 13 are coated with a layer 63 of plasticmaterial such as polyethylene, having a reasonable degree of frictionbut a substantially lower coefficient of friction than the high-frictionrubber coatings 61. Both coatings 61 and 63 are of the same thickness,and the feet on both units of the easel are of the same dimensions, sothat both units or halves of the easel are held at the same elevationabove the main supporting surface 5%. However, the higher friction ofthe coating 61 on the unit 11 tends to keep this unit stationary on theboard 50 after it has been initially set in proper position, whereas thelower friction of the coating 63 on the feet of the second unit 13permits this unit to he slid easily toward and away from the first unit11, over the top of the supporting board 50. without marring or otherdamage to the board 50, yet with enough friction so it will normallystay in place after it has been set in position.

The dimensions of the device are such that it will accommodate a givennominal size of photographic print paper, with allowance for reasonableminor variations in the dimensions of the paper, from one package toanother or from one sheet to another within an individual package. Forexample, in the size of easel intended for a nominal print size of 8 xinches, the dimensions are such that when there is a gap of about /2inch between the two diagonal edges of the two units 11 and 13, thespace between the upstanding flanges 41 along the two long right anglesides of the two units will be 8 inches, and the space between the twoupstanding flanges 43 at the two short right angle sides of therespective units will be 10 inches. If the paper is a trifle oversize,it will still be securely held but the gap between the two diagonaledges 25 of the two units will be slightly larger than that aboveindicated. Likewise, if the paper is a trifle undersize, the two unitscan be pushed slightly closer toward each other. still holding the edgesto the paper securely. Different easels are to be provided for differentnominal print sizes, such as 5 x 7 inches, 11 x 14 inches, or any otherstandard or special size desired.

In use, the picture may be focused and composed on the top surface ofthe easel with the two sections close together, say about /2 inch apart.When composition and focusing have been completed, the first unit 11,having the rubber coated feet, is left in position, and the second unit13 is pulled slightly away from it to leave a gap of about one inchbetween the respective diagonal edges 25.

The print paper 44 is then placed on the easel, emulsion side uppermost,and the second section or unit 13 of the easel is slid gently toward thefirst unit until all four edges of the print paper are gripped by theupstanding flanges 41 and 43. The gripping of the paper is continuousalong all four edges except for slight gaps in the gripping flanges atthe corners, so that the paper is firmly held down in a flat conditionnotwithstanding any curling tendency. As already mentioned, the slightangularity of the upstanding flanges 41 and 43 causes them to overliethe edges of the paper to a suflicient extent to hold the paper down,and yet does not interfere with the projected image reaching all partsof the area of the paper, no margin or border being blanked off by theholding flanges. As well under stood by those familiar with makingphotographic prints, any tendency of the paper to curl usually causes itto be come concave on the emulsion side and convex on the uncoated side,so that the curling tendency would cause the edges, rather than thecenter of the paper, to rise. with the result that the entire expanse ofthe sheet will be held flat if the edges are held down in flatcondition.

In case the print paper has an extreme tendency to curl, rather than thenormal or slight tendency to curl, the extremely curly paper can stillbe loaded easily and quickly onto the easel, by using a weight stripsuch as a clean wooden dowel or a plastic cylinder of about one inchdimeter and of a length slightly greater than the diagonal of the paper.The paper is placed on the two units or sections of the easel, asbefore, and the weight strip is laid along the diagonal of the paperwhich runs along the edges 25 of the easel. This weight strip will serveto hold down the two opposite corners of the curly paper, along thisdiagonal, and the absence of the side flanges at these corners enablesthe ends of the weight strip to project beyond both corners, if it islonger than the diagonal of the paper. Then the left hand of theoperator grasps the easel section 11 with the thumb of the left handoverlying the corner of the paper at the corner 31 of the easel section11, and the right hand of the operator grasps the corresponding rightangled corner of the second easel section 13, with the thumb overlyingthis corner of the paper, and while holding these corners down with thethumbs, the second easel section or unit 13 is moved gently toward thefirst unit 11 until the upstanding flanges grip all four edges of thepaper in the proper way. Then, of course, the weight strip or dowelwhich was temporarily used in mounting the paper on the easel, isremoved from the paper and the paper is exposed to make the print. Theomission of the upstanding flanges at the corners enables the usersthumbs to bear down on the exact corner of the paper, while loadingcurled paper in the easel. The truncated corners 31, 33, and 35 of theeasel cause the corners of the paper to overhang the easel so that thepaper may be quickly picked up by the corners when the exposure iscompleted.

The rubber coating 61 on the feet of the section 11 holds this sectionin the position in which it has been placed, until it is purposelydisplaced therefrom. The plastic coating 63 on the second section orunit 13 also produces enough friction to tend to hold this unit inplace, with sufiicient force to hold the paper down while the operatorshands are busy with manipulation of the enlarger, but the frictionalholding of the second section is less than that of the first section sothat the second section can be more easily moved toward and away fromthe first section when loading and unloading the paper.

It is seen from the foregoing disclosure that the above mentionedobjects of the invention are well fulfilled. It is to be understood thatthe foregoing disclosure is given by way of illustrative example only,rather than by way of limitation, and that without departing from theinvention. the details may be varied within the scope of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. An easel for holding a rectangular piece of photographic print paperflat in a substantially horizontal position while an image is projectedonto the paper in a cone of rays coming downwardly from above, saideasel including two flat body portions each approximately in the shapeof a right angle triangle truncated at its corners, the two triangularbody portions together forming, when in normal effective position, anapproximately rectangular support for a rectangular piece of printpaper, upstanding marginal flanges on the edges of both body portionscorresponding to edges of the print paper, the inner face of each ofsaid flanges making an angle of approximately 84 degrees to the flatsurface of its body portion so as to overlie the edge of the papersnfliciently to resist any upward curling tendency of such edge, withoutinterfering with projection of said image to the entire area of thepaper, there being no upstanding flanges on said truncated corners ofsaid body portions, supporting feet on the first body portion havinghigh friction material on the bottom faces of said feet, and supportingfeet on the second body portion having lower friction material on thebottom faces of such feet.

2. An easel for holding a rectangular piece of photographic print paperflat in a substantially horizontal position while an image is projectedonto the paper in a cone of rays coming downwardly from above, saideasel including two flat body portions each approximately in the shapeof a right angle triangle truncated at its corners, the two triangularbody portions together forming, when in normal effective position, anapproximately rectangular support for a rectangular piece of printpaper, and upstanding marginal flanges on the edges of both bodyportions corresponding to edges of the print paper, the inner face ofeach of said flanges making an angle of approximately 84 degrees to theflat surface of its body portion so as to overlie the edge of the papersufficiently to resist any upward curling tendency of such edge, withoutinterfering with projection of said image to the entire area of thepaper, there being no upstanding flanges on said truncated corners ofsaid body portions.

3. An easel for holding a rectangular piece of photographic print paperfiat in a substantially horizontal position while an image is projectedonto the paper in a cone of rays coming downwardly from above, saideasel including two flat body portions each approximately in the shapeof a right angle triangle truncated at its corners, the two triangularbody portions together forming, when in normal effective position, anapproximately rectangular support for a rectangular piece of printpaper, and upstanding marginal flanges on the edges of both bodyportions corresponding to edges of the print paper, the inner face ofeach of said flanges making an angle of approximately 84 degrees to theflat surface of its body portion so as to overlie the edge of the papersufliciently to resist any upward curling tendency of such edge, withoutinterfering with projection of said image to the entire area of thepaper, there being no upstanding flanges on said truncated corners ofsaid body portions, the sizes of said triangular body portions being sorelated to the size of the piece of print paper to be held thereby, thatwhen the two upstanding flanges of one body portion are engaged with twoadjacent edges of a rectangular piece of paper and the two upstandingflanges of the other body portion are engaged with the other two edgesof the piece of paper,

the diagonal edge of one body portion will be slightly spaced from thediagonal edge of the other body portion.

4. A borderless easel for holding photographic print paper in flatcondition, said easel including two approximately triangular bodiestogether forming an approximately rectangular flat support forunderlying a rectangular piece of print paper, the two bodies beingslightly separated from each other along a diagonal line approximatelycoinciding With a diagonal of said rectangular paper, and an upstandingflange on each of two edges of each triangular body for engagingcorresponding edges of the piece of paper, each of said upstandingflanges having a paper-engaging face extending approximately verticallybut tilted slightly inwardly to overlie the edge of the papersufliciently to resist upward curling of the edge of the paper but notsufficiently to interfere with projection of a photographic image ontothe entire area of the paper during normal conditions of use.

5. A construction as defined in claim 4, in which each of said flangesis tilted inwardly at an angle of approximately 84 degrees to the flatsupporting surface of its triangular body.

6. A construction as defined in claim 4, in which each of saidtriangular bodies has its corners truncated, and in which there are noupstanding flanges at the truncated corners, so that the corners of theprint paper project beyond the supporting bodies and may be easilygrasped for quick removal from the easel.

7. A construction as defined in claim 6, in which both of saidtriangular bodies have feet for supporting both bodies at the sameelevation above an enlarger board, and in which the feet of one bodyhave bottom surfaces coated with rubber and the feet of the other bodyhave bottom surfaces coated with plastic material.

No references cited.

